Difficulty Numbers: Scaling, or Static?

[pemerton]

The game world in 4E having a meta explanation doesn’t really work for me. I’ll take BA of 5E to avoid it.

I don't know what you mean by "meta-explanation".

I mean, all RPG gameworlds are authored, and so all have a "meta-explanation" in that sense.

But the reason that Paragon and Epic Tier PCs find the things they're trying to do hard is because they're trying to do hard things - things that 1st level PCs couldn't even attempt (like, eg thrusting their hands into the Dwarven forge to stabilise an artefact that is being reforged; or trying to cow the Djinni in the court of their master Yan-C-Bin).

 

[payn]

I don't know what you mean by "meta-explanation".

I mean, all RPG gameworlds are authored, and so all have a "meta-explanation" in that sense.

But the reason that Paragon and Epic Tier PCs find the things they're trying to do hard is because they're trying to do hard things - things that 1st level PCs couldn't even attempt (like, eg thrusting their hands into the Dwarven forge to stabilise an artefact that is being reforged; or trying to cow the Djinni in the court of their master Yan-C-Bin).

Right, every time you say tier and why its gated just loses me.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

What made 4e scaling hella weird was the half level bonus that was applied to basically everything, whether that was something your character was proficient in or not, so high level (or actually just 10+ level) characters became bizarrely good at everything. Past the tenth level the half level bonus contributed more to the skills than the proficiency bonus.

 

[pemerton]

Right, every time you say tier and why its gated just loses me.

I don't understand.

A 1st level Wizard can't memorise and cast a Wish spell. But an Archmage can.

A 1st level fighter can't hope to thrust his hands and arms into the forge without being horribly burned and maimed. But a paragon tier fighter can.

I'm lost as to why you are lost.

 

[Scott Christian]

What do you think? How do you liked games to handle difficulties?

I prefer static for skill challenges.

Assigning the difficulty for skill challenges should not focus on the adventurer’s level of ability. It should focus on the context or environment. For example, if you have a player who has tailored their adventurer to be a great swimmer, do not simply make the swim challenge more difficulty because they are so good. The river is – the river. It should only change based on where the adventurers are crossing, i.e. context.

Another example is a rogue who has devoted skill points to becoming a master lockpick. He finds an old door with a rusty lock. The lock should not increase because the rogue is skilled. It should be contextual. If the rogue is entering an ancient armory, the lock might be hard or epic. If it is a rusty door that leads to a pantry, it is simple.

But...

As for combat, I prefer a more scaled encounter. This does not discount adventurers having lower-level encounters, nor does it negate adventurers meeting something that exceeds their capability. But what it does mean is: the majority of encounters are purposefully levelled to challenge the adventurers. This is especially true for my game where only one or two (maybe three?) encounters exist per long rest.

 

[Maxperson]

Nothing else mentioned, I’d say DC 15 is a good number for “Difficult.”

In 5e DC 15 is by RAW only a moderate/medium difficulty. Difficult would be DC 20(hard) or DC 25(very hard) since it's not one of the set adjectives and we have to interpret it. I'd put it at 20 myself.